From Amy Thomas, author of Paris, My Sweet. A love affair with Paris, New York, sweets and, now, a little girl named Parker.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

A weekend in the sun

It appears that spring might actually be here to stay in Paris. At least if this weekend’s weather and activities are to be believed.

Friday night started in classic Parisian style: café terrace aperos with a parade of hipsters to admire. Ben brought me a salted caramel macaron from Arnaud Delmontel, a prelude to a weekend of sweets. We then gave up our coveted spot outside at Le Coeur Fou to go to Koba for sushi, and then called it a night. Perfect.Saturday rang bright with blue skies and art-gazing and park-lounging on the agenda. We started in classic French style: with a croissant, which was, as expected, ridiculously delicious (sigh).Then it was over to the 14th arrondisement to catch the last day of the Robert Doisneau exhibit and see Beat Takeshi at the Cartier Fondation. I’m more of a sucker for the dreamy, evocative photos of France in the 40s than the crazy-genius pop art of this Japanese artist. But what a great balance of the two.We then gathered lunch bits—rotisserie chicken, baguette, brebis (sigh)—and foraged two chairs in the Luxembourg Gardens. Between the food and the sun, it was pretty close to heaven. I think all of Paris agreed. I’ve never seen such crowds.Could the day get any better? Yes. And it did. After splitting a Nutella crepe (sigh), we had a little rest before meeting our beloved Mel at Le Temps au Temps.

Ben is responsible for introducing me and Mel. Without her, life in Paris would never be the same. Our toast to one another with a bottle of Chinon just wasn’t enough to convey this. But, several hours of talking and eating and enjoying each other’s company hopefully did.